Summer is really here, and it's perfect weather for lounging on a porch or a deck and watching the sun go down while you sip a long cool cocktail. A Collins is a fabulous summer cocktail, and it's easy to make. It's served in a Collins glass, a long tall cylinder, over ice. The various versions of a Collins are largely variations in terms of the citrus, or other flavoring, and the spirit used. The first Collins appears to have been created in the mid-1800s, and was named in honor of a nineteenth century meme visible in various newspaper and passed by word-of-mouth. Someone would approach another person, often in a bar, and say that "Tom Collins" had been bad-mouthing them. There was no actual "Tom Collins," it was a practical joke (if not a hoax) along the lines of calling a Tobacconist on the phone and inquiring if they "had Prince Albert in a can," and, on receiving an affirmative, suggesting they let him out.

The basic Tom Collins calls for gin, lemon juice, simple syrup (made by boiling two parts sugar to one part water until it's syrupy), and soda water. It's a very close relative of the Whiskey Sour.

1. Add 2.0 ounces of gin, an ounce of lemon juice, and 0.5 ounce of sugar syrup to a Collins glass with ice cubes.
2. Stir thoroughly (or use a mixing glass on top of the glass and pour the ice and liquid from one glass to the other).
3. Top the glass with club soda.
4. Garnish with a cherry and an orange slice.

Now, at a lot of bars, they'll used pre-made "sour mix"; this is not acceptable, and it really won't taste the same. You can very easily squeeze lemons ahead of time and store the juice in the refrigerator (or even use bottled pure lemon juice). The average lemon renders about 2 ounces of juice. You can adjust the amount of gin, juice, syrup and soda water to taste, which means you can make a lightly alcoholic summer sipper, for sipping over the course of several hours, or a genuine end-of-the-day-watch-the-sun-go-down-on-the-deck cocktail. I note that there are those who are partial to a Collins made with lime instead of lemon juice, and make no judgement as to whether or not they are engaging in cocktail heresy.

Other variations include the John Collins made with bourbon, the Ron Collins, made with rum, the Juan Collins made with tequila, and of course, the lovely vodka Collins.